


won't be alone again

by AgeOfArtemis



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: (Jason contemplates 'stopping' after the Joker is dead), (but is unsure of what he'll stop doing), (steph was apparently almost sexually assualted by a babysitter), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicidal Thoughts, implied/referenced attempted sexual assault to a minor, possibly more characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:20:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25378309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgeOfArtemis/pseuds/AgeOfArtemis
Summary: Jason doesn't remember learning about soulmates for the first time. Like a lot of children, he kind of always knew about it, in that way you do when you learned something really young. Soulmates were a fact of live. Not everyone had them, but they appeared in almost every children's story and cartoon. Always there to cheer you up. Always there to play with you.He doesn’t remember learning about them. He does remember his first interaction with one.Or, the Batkids are soulmates, able to travel into each other's past. It changes very little
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Jason Todd, Roy Harper & Koriand'r & Jason Todd
Comments: 168
Kudos: 573





	1. Jason

**Author's Note:**

> so this is basically that soulmate au where you can travel to your soulmate's past to help them out, but you can only interact with them. So you can warn them about that ball coming their way, but you can't stop it from hitting their face yourself. 
> 
> also, i mention things like tapping yes or no. Basically, i imagine in a world like this, there'd be some kind of system in place to communicate with your soulmate(s). i go a little more into detail in the second chapter and might go deeper into it later, so let me know if you have any questions
> 
> the first chapter will likely be longer than the rest of the chapters, but we'll see
> 
> and yes, the title is from Sick of Losing Soulmates by Dodie

Jason doesn't remember learning about soulmates for the first time. Like a lot of children, he kind of always knew about it, in that way you do when you learned something really young. Soulmates were a fact of live. Not everyone had them, but they appeared in almost every children's story and cartoon. Always there to cheer you up. Always there to play with you.

He doesn’t remember learning about them. He does remember his first interaction with one.

He's almost six, hiding underneath the table with the dog as mom and dad fight. It's always bad when dad is mad. Mom gets hurt, and sometimes Jason gets hurt. The shouting is scary. So he stays under the table and trembles as dad storms out. A hand he can't see taps under his chin until he holds his head up high, and then those same hands tug at the corners of his mouth and force him to smile.

Jason giggles. "Are you my soulmate?" he whispers, awed. One tap.

_One tap means yes,_ he remembers mom saying. A thumb he can't see rubs across his bare arm, where a blue flower marks one of his soulmates. _Borage,_ mom called it.

Within that year, he meets the rest of his soulmates as well. If meet is the right word, which it might not be considering they're always invisible.

The first one he calls Borage, after her soulmark. Her touch is warm, soft and there's something airy about it, like she's constantly moving. She's always there to cheer Jason up, always there to point out something pretty, or a book he might like. He likes her.

There's another girl, always there to warn him. If he's about to trip, when there are scary people close. Her soulmark is a black ballet shoe (slipper? Jason isn't sure). Her touch is always sure and strong. He names her after her soulmate too, Ballerina.

Then there's Sis, or Sister, whose mark of ones and zeros (code, he learns later, computer code). She always helps him learn new things, usually to distract him from things that make him sad. Her touch is always gentle and guiding.

Then there's the camera mark, whose touch is light, fleeting and unsure at first, but becomes more and more confident. He's always there when Jason's sad and lonely. When mom is taking her medicine. Jason calls him Friend, because he's the first real friend Jason's had.

There's the bird, a robin so Jason calls him Robin, who's always down to play with Jason when he's around. He ruffles Jason's hair a lot, gives him one-armed hugs around his shoulder. Friendly, strong touches mark their interactions.

Sunny is a combination of Borage and Robin, always there to play with Jason and cheer him up, give him a hug when he needs it. He's always cheerful, and it shows in his friendly, sure touch. His soulmark is a bright sunflower.

The last one is Stabby, because his mark is some sort of sword (a katanna, he learns that when he's a little older, too) and he's always giving Jason sharp pokes to alert him of danger or point him towards good hiding spots. His touches are sharp, often slightly painful.

* * *

When he's six, dad breaks his arm for the first time. Ballerina's grip on his shoulder is tight but not painful as he and mom lie to the doctor at the free clinic. She'd introduced herself as Leslie.

Sunny and Borage just sit at his side, both a comforting presence.

Sister helps him as he tries to cook dinner for mom a few weeks later, arm newly healed. Mom just took her medicine, so she can't cook.

A week later, Jason steals a wallet from the wrong person and Stabby helps him hide. He barely avoids being caught.

In between all of this, Robin drags Jason along the streets of Gotham to look for some fun, and Friend sits with him late at night when mom and dad are fighting again.

* * *

At seven, Jason watches as cops drag dad out of the apartment, Sister pressed up against his back, her arms crossed over his chest.

Sunny and Borage are there to help him get enough food and money to keep mom and him alive. Friend and Robin try to make him eat more, but he doesn't listen to them and makes sure mom eats enough.

Stabby tries to poke and sometimes drag him away when mom yells at him, that she hates him and she doesn't want him around and she never should have made dad take him in. But Jason needs to make sure mom is okay, so he always stay, even when mom's medicine makes her say mean things.

Ballerina keeps him safe from the many bad people in Crime Alley.

He sees a little, blonde girl one day when he's trying to earn or maybe steal some money. She's with her mom and smiles widely at him when they pass, waving. Jason knows instinctively that she's Borage. Mom's in a good mood when he comes home, so he excitedly tells her about it. She smiles at him.

"Bigger groups of soulmates sometimes have one or two people who can tell immediately who their soulmate is," she tells him. "It's easier for all of you to meet like that."

Jason smiles widely. That means he can help all his soulmates meet! How great is that?!

Robin ruffles his hair fondly.

* * *

Mom gets worse. Jason watches her waste away sadly. She yells at him more. She doesn't take him to the library anymore, she doesn't really cook much anymore, so he has to. They get the news dad died and she get even worse.

The entire year he's eight is just… kinda miserable. Friend sits with him a lot, leaning against him. He goes out more, because mom got fired from her job at the dinner a few blocks away and they need food, so Ballerina and Stabby have to help him a lot. Robin, Sunny and Borage try to play with him, or point out pretty things, but it only barely works. Sister distracts him with books, and he gets in them, curled against her, but he has to go back to the real world eventually. He hasn't been to school in half a year.

When he's nine, mom dies. He comes home from an afternoon of scraping together some money to find his mom lying against the kitchen cabinets, completely still.

His cries alert the neighbors, who call the cops about a noise complaint. He jumps around the foster system for two years, spending half that time running away from shitty homes. School is okay, but only because he likes learning. The fact that he's in and out of it makes it a lot more difficult, and most of the teachers don’t like him. He misses his mom. His soulmates barely help.

Dad always hated it when he cried, and the foster homes are often the same. It solidifies the idea that crying is weak, so he starts hiding behind anger instead.

At eleven, he's on the streets permanently. The library is a safe haven where he can spend a few hours living in a different world each time, but he can't go during school hours. He's almost always hungry, but learns from some of the older kids that cigarettes help a little. None of his soulmates seem particularly happy with his new habit, especially Friend, Robin and Sister, but he ignores them.

Sunny, Borage and Ballerina are the most useful. They help him get food and money, and help him find shelter. He shares his food with some of the street animals or kids, sometimes.

He's twelve and hasn't eaten in days the first time he sucks a man's dick. Sister, Borage and Ballerina appear just as the man buckles his belt and walks away, and they hold him as he gags. The next two years, they're there every time after he sells himself for money.

He's thirteen, tired and hungry, when he steals the tires of the Batmobile. Batman catches him, and his soulmates all encourage him to take up the man's offer of food.

Finding out Bruce Wayne is Batman is less of a shock than he'd thought. Really, who else but some crazy rich man?

Alfred is amazing, his cooking almost as good, and the library is basically Jason's dream. Bruce is good, being Robin is better. The first half year, until he's fourteen, is the best time Jason's ever had. He has enough food, he goes to school, he reads a lot, being Robin is _amazing._ He meets Friend, Tim Drake, during a gala. A few weeks later, he catches him following Batman and Robin on patrol with a camera. Barbara Gordon (and holy shit, that's Sister, he's finally meeting his soulmates) tutors him so he can catch up in school. His soulmates don't show up much anymore but that's fine because everything is _great._

And then Dick Grayson comes into his life and it all goes to shit.

Jason can tell immediately he's Robin, which makes _so much sense, holy shit,_ and he's so excited to get to know him, because he looks up to Dick so much.

And then Dick looks at him with a face so full of disdain Jason's insides shrivel up. He spits something to Bruce about Jason being a replacement and it not being Bruce's right, and Jason can barely hear him above the pounding of his heart in his ears.

Robin is hugging him from behind, tapping the three taps for _sorry_ , and the contrast is so confusing Jason can do nothing but get mad at Dick fucking Grayson, because who does he think he is, really? 

Everything only gets worse.

Bruce grows more and more disapproving of him. He constantly compares him to Dick. It hurts so much but Jason refuses to cry, refuses to be weak, so he gets angry instead and leaves his tears for his bedroom, the few times he allows himself to cry.

The Titans hate him because they adore Dick. Half the adult superheroes don't talk to him (also because they adore Dick, he's sure). Babs tells him he'll never be Dick Grayson and despite Sister tapping _sorry_ over and over again he gets so mad (so, so hurt and sad).

Bruce tells him he's too reckless and impulsive (as if he doesn't plan every little thing he does. Reckless, yeah. Not impulsive). Bruce tells him he's not his father and doesn't need this teenage rebellion. Jason cries harder than he ever has before, surrounded by his soulmates.

Garzonas happens, Bruce seems convinced Jason pushed him (he didn't he didn't _he didn't_ ). Jason barely feels the hurt through the numbness.

He finds out Catherine isn’t his mom and despite the fact that his soulmates seem very much against the idea, he goes to find out who his real mom is. He doesn't think he could handle Bruce kicking him out (because he _will)_ , so he runs.

So eventually he finds out it's Sheila Haywood. And then Bruce is there, and apparently so is the Joker, and Bruce tells Jason to stay. He finds out Sheila's working with Joker and reveals he's Robin and they could help her! They just have to wait for Bruce to come back. The entire time, all his soulmates are clinging to some part of him. Stabby to his left hand, Ballerina to his right. Dick/Robin is hugging his waist, Borage has her arms around his shoulders, Sunny is hugging his chest from the side and Sister/Barbara has a death grip on his left thigh. Friend/Tim is clinging to his right bicep.

Sheila tells him to come with her. Jason tells her that the Joker is in that warehouse and they should wait. Sheila tells him the Joker is gone and Jason naively believes her, following after her like some lost puppy. His soulmates try their best to tug him back but he doesn't let them.

Sheila delivers him to the Joker on a silver platter. Smokes a cigarette while the Joker beats the shit out of him. His soulmates try to protect him even though they can't. Jason appreciates the gesture.

  
(What he doesn't understand is this: he's going to die and he knows it. But he needs to touch blood with his soulmates to be able to go through their lives to be there for them. They have to touch blood with him to be there for him.)

Everything hurts, so much. So much that he's barely aware of the Joker tying up Sheila and starting the countdown on the bomb. Still, he tries his best to crawl towards the door and open it. He won't survive this, but Sheila might.

The door is locked. He considers untying Sheila, but the timer only has ten seconds left and he'll never manage. So instead he does his best to keep Sheila alive by covering her from the explosion.

All he knows after the bomb explodes is searing pain, how hard it is to breathe, and his soulmates. And then, finally, darkness.

* * *

He wakes up.

He tries to sit up but hits his head.

He tries to spread his arms but can't.

He's laying on something soft. There's wood right above him. He's dressed in a suit. It's getting hard to breathe. A warm, soft touch determinedly tries to pull him up by his shoulder. He can feel the presence of six more people, but that's impossible in such a small place. 

The dead can’t feel. The dead don't breathe. The dead don't have soulmates.

It's getting harder to breathe.

_A coffin._

The realization comes out of nowhere.

He's buried. He needs to get out.

Even using his belt, it takes him forever to get out. He breaks a few fingers. He gets splinters. One of his nails breaks off. At some point there's dirt, dirt, dirt, everywhere. The warm, soft touch keeps encouraging him to keep going. The rest of his soulmates stay, a comforting presence.

He gets out. It's raining. He can breathe again. He stumbles away. Everything hurts.

Everything turns black.

* * *

There world is mostly foggy with some clear flashes, after that. His soulmates are never there, in those clear flashes. He doesn't know about the times everything is a haze.

(the dead don’t have soulmates)

The only thing of importance that stays with him is a small boy, holding a sword, feeling familiar.

( _Stabby,_ something inside him whispers. _The dead don’t have soulmates,_ he whispers back)

Then everything is green, green, green and burning. He can't breathe again. He comes to the surface screaming, yelling. Something is pulling him forward _(Ballerina),_ something is pushing him _(Stabby)_ , arms are hugging him, hands are cradling his face, holding his biceps, his hands.

Talia forces his head up with a hand under his chin. "Hello, little Robin," she says. "We have much to discuss."

* * *

The Joker is alive. Barbara is paralyzed. There's a new Robin. Dick didn't care enough to even show up to his funeral.

Sister is leaning against him and holding his hand. Friend is doing the same on his other side, tapping _sorry_ over and over again. Robin is tapping the same three pattern on his shoulder. It all feels distant, fake, unreal.

(the dead don't have soulmates)

Jason trains. He sees the little boy with the katanna, Damian, sometimes. Talia updates him on Gotham. More kids in costumes, more kids in danger. More Joker outbreaks. More Arkham outbreaks. More deaths.

His soulmates flitter in and out of his life. Some of them try to cheer him up, point him towards funny or beautiful things. He ignores them.

He trains.

Talia tells him more about the new Robin. The kid is everything Jason wasn't. A detective, a planner, he obeys orders. He has his own friends, his own Teen Titans.

Jason is so, so angry.

(Jason is so, so hurt)

The Pit surges up a lot. It makes him furious, murderous, and he comes back to destroyed rooms, murdered sparring partners. (Bruce already thinks he's a murdered anyway, what does it matter?)

Talia sends him abroad to do more training. All of his teachers are scumbags, so he kills them. Terrorists, human traffickers, rapists.

Jason puts a bomb underneath the Batmobile to kill Bruce, but even without his soulmates trying their best to stop him, he can’t bring himself to pull the trigger. Their meddling is unnecessary.

He trains more. Talia helps him come up with a plan. He goes to Gotham.

He does recon for over a month, establishes contacts and informants. Then he sets up a meeting with some of the biggest crime bosses and kills their lieutenants. He takes over, antagonizes Black Mask and the Bats.

His soulmates don't interact. He can feel their presence sometimes, and he won't admit how much it hurts that they won't touch him. He shouts at them instead, eyes flowing vicious green, to fuck off if they're gonna be assholes about it. He doesn't allow himself to cry when he knows they're there.

(the one time one of them appears when he's already crying, he yells and throws shit until they leave and then continues crying)

Everything goes exactly according to plan, of course. Mask releases Joker, Jason captures him and confronts Batman.

His soulmates are all watching at his back. He can feel their disapproval and has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from reacting. They don’t understand.

(they don’t understand all those victims that are too afraid to live in a world with the Joker alive, they don't understand that _he_ can't live in a world where the Joker is alive, because he's too scared to live in such a world)

Bruce throws a Batarang at Jason's neck. The building blows. Bruce gets the Joker out and leaves Jason to die.

Jason, crying, sobbing and alone, drags himself to Leslie's clinic.

(he's not alone, but his soulmates keep their distance because- jason doesn’t know why, probably because they hate him)

* * *

Jason comes back to himself after another Lazarus episode and immediately knows he fucked up. He doesn't have to struggle to remember what he did like he usually does.

He beat up Robin. Ambushed him at Titan's Tower and almost killed him. The Replacement had barely fought back. God, what's wrong with him, that's just a _kid._

(he's sixteen-legally-eighteen, he's still a child, too, why does no one see he's just a hurt kid)

Friend is sitting to his left, pressed against his side. He traces words on Jason's skin, the words _it's okay_ over and over again.

"It's not!" Jason snarls. "It's not okay!"

He's disgusted at himself. He's disgusting. He's just like everyone he's ever despised. He's a monster. He almost killed an innocent kid.

Friend hugs him. Jason lets him, too busy raging at himself.

* * *

Nightwing confronts him a few days later. They fight. Robin is tapping a constant beat of _sorry_ on his skin. Jason doesn't know why. This is the least he deserves.

Two days later Jason kills a serial killer who rapes his victims and he and Bruce fight. Jason goes back to one of his safe houses and trashes the place as Borage and Sunny watch, then breaks down as Ballerina holds him.

"Why am I- why am I never good enough for _anyone,"_ he spits, trying to hold back tears. "Mom, Willis, Sheila, Bruce, Dick, Barbara, you guys. I'm never _enough!"_

Ballerina taps twice, _no,_ Jason breaks. He knows, he knew, but having that confirmation hurts more than he'd like to admit.

(he doesn't consider she means it isn't true, because he won't even dare to hope that it's a possibility)

* * *

Jason's just started patrol and already he's being held up by street kids. Stabby is standing at his back, watching for danger.

"Do you have a soulmate, mister Hood?" one of the kids asks. For a second, Jason considers saying no, but with Stabby at his back, he can't bring himself to.

"Yeah," he says. "You?"

The kid nods excitedly. "I've got two! I already met one! She's from th' nicer parts, though."

"You treat her well, yeah?" Jason warns. Robin pats his shoulder. Friend writes _okay_ on his back, through his body armor, but it's still not.

* * *

It's almost Christmas and his safe house his freezing and he just had another fight and he's all around miserable as he toys with the gun in his hand.

Even with the Joker back in Arkham, he's still on edge. He can't let his guard down. Every shadow scares him. He's tired but he can't sleep. His whole body hurts, but he doesn't dare move from his spot pressed in the corner of his bedroom, eyeing the door and window in turns.

He hates Gotham, he hates the Joker, he hates Bruce.

He hates himself.

He's so, so tired.

Friend is sitting in front of him, feet pressed against his, hand around one of his wrists like he's afraid Jason will put that gun to use.

(the dead don't have soulmates)

"I'm sorry," he whispers to Friend-Replacement-Robin-Tim, the first time he's acknowledged they're all the same people. "I don't know why- I shouldn't have- I'm sorry."

Friend-Replacement-Robin-Tim hugs him. He writes _it's okay_ again.

* * *

Sister shows up for the first time in a long time a few days after that. This time, Jason's sitting in the bathtub. He still feels like shit. He feels dead.

He is dead.

Jason Peter Todd, nineteen years old, is dead. Red Hood, seventeen, feels like he barely exists. He hasn't gone out all week, but without Red Hood, what is he, really? Being a vigilante is all he has. Helping people is all he has. He doesn't have a civilian identity. He doesn’t have a job. He doesn't have a diploma, or a family, or friends. Just some soulmates who (should-probably-do) hate him and a previous-maybe-father figure that hates him too.

"What's the fucking point," he mumbles. "Huh? Why am I here. I died. Being dead means I'm done, I'm out. But I'm not."

He thumps his head against the wall. Sister rubs her hand up and down his arm. Jason doesn't understand why she's there, he's almost constantly miserable now and it's his own fault, he doesn't get why his soulmates are suddenly showing up now.

"When the clown's dead," he mumbles. "When the clown's dead, I can stop."

He doesn't know what, yet. Stop being Red Hood, stop fighting, stop killing, stop breathing. He'll decide later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The observant reader might have noticed Jason doesn't refer to his soulmates by name. He doesn't call Robin Dick, even though he knows, and Tim, Replacement and Friend also are used in different contexts. This is on purpose. I imagine Jason'd keep that distinction pretty clear.
> 
> Robin is his soulmate, Robin likes him and hangs out with him. Dick, on the other hand, hates him. He knows the two are the same, but he doesn't truly allow himself to connect them. Later on, he does start connecting them, and this immediately leads to the conclusion Robin/Dick hates him.


	2. Tim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason & Tim accidentally bond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a lot less angsty then the last chapter. Tim's life isn't described in too much detail because the parts I included are mostly described in more detail in canon, so I felt like it was a little unnecessary to go too deeply into it. characters like Cass and Steph, who have less canon content and leave more up to interpretation, will have more details. This is by no way because I don't like Tim or because I like him less than the others!

Stephanie and Cassandra hate him on Tim's behalf. Barbara and Dick hate him in general and so does Tim. Damian and him never interact but the boy likely hates him, too. Duke's far too new to have formed much of an opinion of him but should be wary of him just from the stories he's heard.

So he doesn't know why they're here.

Sure, he's injured. Specifically, he got injured during a team up with the Bats for an Arkham breakout, but that still doesn't explain it. They left him alone with worse. It especially doesn't explain why _all_ of them are here. Barbara is even on his comm line.

"The fuck are you people here for?" he grunts.

"To make sure you don't die," Tim snaps. He'd taken the needle and thread away from Jason the moment he came in. Jason hadn't protested, if only because he could barely reach the cut.

"The rest of us is here to make sure you don't kill him," Stephanie adds viciously. Jason sends a poisonous glare towards her so mask how much that hurts him.

_"I'm just listening in to keep you people civil,_ " Barbara mutters over the comms.

Tim's already done with the stitches, so he takes his gloves off. Some of Jason's blood got on him, so he wipes a hand over it. When that doesn't do much, he turns his head, presumably to ask for a towel or something. He doesn’t get the chance.

When Jason opens his eyes again, he's in front of a really, really tiny, crying Tim Drake. He doesn't even think before hugging the kid, who jumps in surprise and looks around.

"Are you my soulmate?" he asks quietly.

Jason's never been so grateful that basic soulmate language is generally taught to every little kid with marks, and even in schools. Why soulmate language _is_ taught but ASL isn't while the numbers of users are about the same, Jason suspects has something to do with ableism.

Still, he taps once. For good measure, he runs his thumb across the inside of Tim's forearm, where all their soulmarks are located.

Tim gasps in awe. Jason's just glad the kid stopped crying. They sit in silence for a few seconds while Jason just hugs him.

"Mommy and daddy left without saying bye, that's why I was crying," Tim whispers. Jason hugs him tighter for a second, before releasing him and ruffling his hair. Tim leans into it eagerly.

"You're like a big brother," he muses. "That's what I'll call you! Brother!"

Oh.

Ouch.

He gets sucked into the next moment before he can really process it.

* * *

It's strange.

Jason knows a lot about Timothy Drake. Genius, absent parents, figured out Batman's identity and everyone else's young, became Robin, parents died, was out for a little while, became Robin again. Has a lot of good friends in the hero community and seems pretty well respected.

But he doesn't know a lot about Tim.

Tim's lonely a lot. His parents aren't just absent, but they're neglectful. He spends a lot of time alone, wondering what he has to do to make his parents pay attention to him. Love him.

If the Drakes weren't dead, Jason'd punch them in the face.

Tim spends more than one holiday and birthday alone. Jason spends a lot of time sitting with him like Tim did with him. He listens to him ramble about school and his hobbies and his maybe-friends. He hangs with Tim at galas, keeping him away from shitty old people who do nothing but gossip and judge.

Tim tells him only once he knows who Batman and Robin are, and then immediately tells Jason he can't tell them who they are.

When Jason becomes Robin, Tim seems to start going out more. His photo collection grows and his admiration is so obvious it startles Jason. Where he himself saw only the infinite amount of mistakes he made, even at that time, Tim is always gushing about how compassionate and strong the new Robin is.

_Just you wait,_ Jason thinks, bitterly.

When Jason dies, Tim is devastated. Jason watches as Tim watches Bruce become more and more violent, confused. He doesn't really know what to do except be there for Tim if he needs to talk, but Tim is far too busy tracking down Dick and trying to convince him to be Robin again.

"Batman needs a Robin," Tim says.

"Bullshit," Jason spits, though no one can hear.

Jason covers Tim's ears anytime Bruce lectures him, or writes _not true_ on his skin. He knows it won't do much, but he needs Tim to know.

He needs Tim to not know how much the cautionary tales about him hurt. How much the case hurts.

Tim's mom dies, and his dad is in a coma for a little while. Tim, who was getting better because of his time spend training and patrolling, falls back into loneliness, even at the Manor. Jason tries to drag him to Alfred, but Tim refuses.

When he goes back to living with his dad, it gets worse. Worse still when his dad finds out about Robin. His stepmom tries, but it just makes the kid uncomfortable.

Then a lot of people die in a small amount of time. Jason just holds him as the kid cries.

In the mean time, Jason's doing his whole underworld take over. Tim gathers hints and snippets but, like seemingly everyone except maybe Dick is kept out of the loop as much as possible.

And then Jason attacks him at Titans Tower, and all he can do is tap _sorry_ over and over and over again. Holds the kid close as he takes punch after punch after kick. Holds him close as Red Hood leaves and until the Titans find him. _Sorry, sorry, sorry._ It's the only thing he can do.

There's only a few more things after that. Damian trying to kill him, Steph, Bart and Kon all being alive, a few lonely moments. He flits in and out, brief moments where he just sits with Tim, or holds him.

He blinks and he's back in his safe house, three sets of glares on him, Dick asking if Tim is alright. Barbara and Duke are watching silently. Tim is in front of him, pale and shaking, staring wide-eyed at Jason. When he reaches out, Jason jerks away from him.

"You're-," Tim gasps. Jason scowls.

"Who the fuck did you think it was?" he spits.

"You knew?" the younger asks, accusatory.

"Of course I knew," Jason snaps back. "I'm not a fucking moron, who else would it _be_?"

_"And you didn't tell us?"_ Barbara asks, offended.

"I thought you knew! You're supposed to be detectives, right?"

"I guess we just… didn't think you'd be our last," Dick said, and yeah, okay, that hurts.

A pair of arms squeezes his waist, a hand holds his, someone drapes themselves over his shoulder. Two hands, each from a different person, land on his upper arms, another plants itself on the small of his back. Even though it implies everything will be fine and they'll fix this, Jason's too angry to identify who's who.

He can read between the lines.

_We didn't think you'd be our last,_ Dick says.

_We didn’t consider it._ Jason hears. _We didn’t want it to be you._

It's not an exaggeration. All of them are Bats, their last one wouldn't be some random civilian, he's the most logical option. The mark, the Kalmia, is obviously for him. _Perseverance._

(he knows he's not exaggerating when he tells roy later, and the man gets pissed, because roy will call him out of he's spiraling or misinterpreting things)

* * *

It's hours later, early afternoon, in an entirely different safe house, as far away as he could get while still staying within city-limits. Roy came as quickly as he could, Kori on his heels. They're in bed, watching some baking show.

God, Jason misses this sometimes. During his time with the Outlaws, his soulmates had barely been around. The occasional warning, or pointing out something nice or funny, but he hadn't needed them much. Roy and Kori had provided all the affection and support he dreamed of but never really dared to hope for. They aren't really active as a team anymore and they're all busy, but they hang out and call.

It's not enough, but it is what it is.

Jason's laying on Roy's chest, trying not to doze off. The archer's fingers moving against his scalp and Kori's heat against his back make it infinitely more hard.

He ignores Friend. He's sitting on the end if the bed, hand on Jason's ankle. Jason wonders if he realizes how much it hurts, how lonely it makes him feel.

The Bats had continued to yell at him for several long minutes. Steph had seemed particularly furious at the idea of Jason as her soulmate. Even Duke looked upset. Tim, who it turned out had had a small cut on his palm, which was how their blood even touched in the first place, had eventually gone off to presumably gag into Jason's toilet or lock himself in the bathroom to get the fuck away from the older Robin. Stephanie, Cassandra and Dick followed him, which was when Jason decided to fucking book it. Barbara had yelled at him, so he'd turned his comm line off. Debated crushing it, but didn't. He'd gotten it two months before and it was (unsurprisingly) useful during emergencies.

So here he is now, dressed in his most comfortable hoodie and pajama pants, cuddling with his best friends, ignoring his soulmate.

"You know we love you, right?" Roy murmured, placing a kiss on top of Jason's head.

"Yeah," he mumbled. He knew. Sometimes it was hard to remember, but he knew. "You, too."

Kori squeezed his waist a little tighter.

* * *

It's three days later when he runs into Tim. He's out with Roy and Kori, on their way to the park, when Tim falls into step with them.

"You want something?" Jason grunts. He's been doing so well, avoiding the Bats, too. But Tim's always been a little stalker, so he guesses he shouldn’t be surprised.

"I'd like to talk," Tim says. Jason grunts, glaring off to the side. Roy and Kori share a look.

"We'll head to the park," Kori says. "Come find us when you're done, yes?"

She kisses his cheek and heads off. Roy trails after her, unbothered. Jason turns his glare on Tim.

"There's a diner just around the corner. We could talk there?" the kid proposes.

"Yeah, whatever," Jason grunts, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. So they go to the diner, they order and they look at each other for a few seconds.

"Well?" Jason snaps, sounding annoyed to hide his nervousness. "You wanted to talk. So talk."

"We both know what I wanted to talk about," Tim says. "I wanted to apologize."

"For _what,_ kid?"

"For how we've been treating you, how I've been treating you. For how the others acted the other night."

"Well, it ain't really your place to apologize for others, is it?"

Tim shrugs. "I guess, but still. I've suspected you were our last for a while now, and I never stepped in to stop them. Even if you weren't our soulmate, it wouldn't be okay. We judged before we had all the evidence."

"Fuck off," Jason says, scowling. "The context doesn't excuse shit, I did what I did and I shouldn't have. They have every right to be mad at me. I don't want forgiveness, yours or anyone else's, because of pity, or just because I'm your fucking soulmate."

"I'm not forgiving you because of the context or because you're my soulmate," Tim replies stubbornly. "Sure, the context helps. Knowing about Talia, the League and the Pit puts things in perspective. But I know how much you regret it, and I know how much you hate yourself because of it. You've apologized. I accept your apology and forgive you."

_Maybe,_ Jason thinks, _but I won't forgive myself._

He doesn't say anything. Their food arrives and they eat most of it in silence.

"What'd you tell the others, anyway?" Jason asks eventually. "Stephanie, Cassandra and Dick would never allow you near me without supervision."

"I didn't tell them anything," he shrugs. "They don't keep an eye on me twenty four seven, they don't need to know. Besides, you're our soulmate."

"Yeah, they seemed _real_ happy about that one."

"Steph will turn around in no time. She was just caught off guard," Tim replies. He's hiding something, Jason realizes, but he doesn't press. "Dick and Cass are just protective."

Jason laughs, a little bitter.

(dick was never protective of _you,_ his mind hisses, dick never cared about _you_ )

"As they should be."


	3. Stephanie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the start of the Dead Robins Club!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to apologize for the wait. I was planning on finishing this before the start of september but that... obviously didn't work out. I started college this month so I was working as much as I could during august. 
> 
> (Also could someone please tell me how to make sure the end notes stay with the right chapter?? The end notes for chapter 1 are not with chapter 1 anymore and I don't know how to fix it ;( )

Tim and Jason's relationship changes significantly after that.

They're both well aware how certain members of the family will react if Tim is seen hanging out with Jason regularly, so they're discreet. They never meet up during patrol. Oracle has eyes everywhere and their comms have trackers in them, not to mention their suits. Tim usually drops by whatever safehouse Jason's using at the time. He sends him a text, telling Jason he'd like to hang out, and if Jason send him the address he's always there within ten minutes. If Jason doesn't respond, Tim doesn't push. He doesn't even mention it. Sometimes they pour over cases, or watch some stupid, lighthearted show or play a game. Sometimes they just talk, about nothing or about serious shit.

Things aren't perfect, and sometimes Jason freaks and ignores him for a while, but their relationship is getting better. Tim sometimes presses too far. Jason sometimes bugs him just a little too much. They get over it.

They're at Tim's apartment for a change, eating the pasta Jason made (alfred would be proud) and watching the new She-Ra. They're halfway through the first season and Jason just… fucking loves Catra, okay?

"You know," Tim pipes up suddenly, "the night we finally figured out you were our last, they all kind of individually decided to show up."

Jason glances at him, frowning. Tim doesn't acknowledge the look.

"I told them I was gonna check on you because I saw you get hit. Dick apparently decided I needed protecting, and Damian was on patrol with him so of course he came along," he continues. "I'm still not entirely sure why Steph decided to show up. She knows I can handle myself and she won't tell me. Cass followed her and dragged Duke along."

"Are you gonna tell me why you brought this up or are you gonna keep being cryptic?"

Tim purses his lips. "Steph wants to talk to you," he admits.

Jason grunts. "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

"She told me to tell you she'll be at that new café in Crime Alley at three tomorrow. If you don't show, she'll probably let you be for a while."

The 'for a while' is the key phrase, there. From what he knows about Stephanie Brown, she's incredibly determined and stubborn. Great.

* * *

He plops himself in the seat across from the blonde ten minutes late. She doesn't bother looking up from her phone just yet, which he guesses is fair enough. He'll wait her out.

She finishes whatever she was typing, quite possibly a message informing someone where she is and who she's with in case he decides to kidnap her or something, before she pockets her phone and looks at him. Her expression is neutral enough, but her eyes are a steely sort of determined. Jason wonders if that's good or bad for him.

"You know, I didn't think you'd actually show," she says.

"Yeah, neither did I," he grunts. "What did you want?"

"I don’t know you," she says, and Jason officially has no clue where this is going. Borage squeezes his shoulder, but it doesn't help his nerves. "The only thing I really know about you is that you beat up my best friend, so I've been interacting with you with that in mind. Tim says he forgives you and that he trusts you, so I'm prepared to try to trust you, too."

It's… very mature. Very emotionally aware, too. He doesn't really know how to respond to it, so he just averts his eyes and mumbles out a quiet, "Thanks."

Stephanie snorts and then holds out her hand, palm up. There's a fain, pinkish scar. Probably from when she last bonded, just barely healed. "You wanna do this?"

"You wanna do it here?" he asks, snorting. The ex-Batgirl kicks him under the table. "You got a place close by, then?"

She smirks. "I've got roommates."

Yeah, that's less than ideal, not least because Stephanie is a known soulmate of the Wayne kids. Only one of those roommates has to let something slip, and they're all fucked.

"My place it is."

* * *

Jason barely has a foot in the living room before Stephanie whips out a pocket knife. Without hesitation she makes a cut in her other palm, wipes the blade off on her jeans and hands it over. Jason cuts his own palm a little reluctantly and holds it out. The blonde clamps hers over it, and before Jason knows it, he's not in his living room but in a dark, cramped space. A closet.

Fantastic.

A tiny Stephanie is curled up in the space, hugging her knees. She cries quietly. Jason reaches out to wipe her tears away. She startles, then looks up in wonder.

"Are you my soulmate?" she whispers, awed. Jason taps his mark on her arm, then draws a question mark. "Daddy's mad at me 'gain, so he locked me 'n the closet. But now that ya here, it ain' too bad."

Jason smiles softly even though she can't see and hugs her close.

"Whoa!" she exclaims softly. "You're really big. And warm. And you make me feel safe. I'll call you blanky, for blanket. Cuz blankets are also big and warm and safe."

Okay, yeah, he doesn't need his heart anyway. God, no wonder she was so angry when she found out. He'd also be mad if the soulmate that made him feel safe beat up his best friend.

* * *

The 'big, warm, safe' thing continues like that. Stephanie's dad is like Willis, except he thinks of her as a tool and dismisses her when she's not useful instead of just hating her. He keeps her company in the closet.

(the one good thing the man does is kill the babysitter that tried to rape steph, who'd only managed to defend herself with cass' help)

Her dad starts getting arrested or staying away for long periods, her mom starts stealing prescription drugs. Crystal usually is a little more aware and functional than Catherine was, but she's still bad. Jason helps Stephanie cook and take care of her mom when her dad is gone.

It makes him realize that maybe Catherine wasn't as good of a mom as he thought she was.

Steph is still a surprisingly happy, goofy kid, considering her circumstances. Jason's glad for that. She's understandably furious, though, when her father returns, claims to be over his whole Cluemaster bullshit, but gets right back into crime. Jason is incredibly proud of her when Steph starts leaving clues in his stead.

He may or may not have been the one to point out the brick she ends up hitting Tim with. Maybe.

It's fucking funny though.

He's still laughing when he gets thrown in the next moment, which makes him sober quickly. Steph is sitting in the bathroom, pregnancy test in her hands. It's positive.

Jason hugs her close.

"I'm so stupid!" the girl says. "I don't know why- why I let him get away with not using a condom. God damnit! I hate him, I hate him!"

Yeah, Jason's never liked Dean. Little asshole.

Tim shows up some time later, at which point they've moved, and Jason gets whisked away again.

Steph makes the decision to give the baby up for adoption and Jason can't do much but put a hand on her shoulder in support.

Her time as Robin makes him so, so angry. During training Bruce is constantly putting her down in a way he never did with the rest of them, as far as Jason is aware. The man better be ready for a punch in the face.

And then he fires her. For disobeying orders. To safe his life. As if that's not exactly what they've all done a million times, for worse reasons even. She tries to prove her worth, and maybe it wasn't the best way but she didn't have all the information (which she should've had, fuck you Bruce) so it wasn't really her fault. Had she known everything she needed to, Jason doubts it would've gone wrong. Stephanie Brown has a way of making things go her way.

Jason holds her hand as Black Mask tortures her, unable to do anything else just like the rest of them, also there, and he holds her hand as she dies, stroking her hair.

God, is he gonna deck Bruce.

He's also gonna have to punch a couple of other people with how disapproving they are of her being Batgirl. God, this girl had to basically completely train herself and became and kept on being a vigilante mostly with minimal or reluctant help, give her some more credit. And then Bruce dares to 'test' her, ugh.

* * *

He comes back to the present to a pale Steph. He himself is shaking with rage.

"I'll fucking punch Bruce in the face," he hisses.

"God, I'd rather you never get near him again," Steph replies, composing herself. "A Batarang? To the throat?"

Jason grunts. "Fuck, he treated you like shit," he mutters. "It's complete bullshit, too. All of us disobeyed direct orders. Hell, he thought I pushed a dude from a roof ad he wasn't that bad!"

"You want a drink?" the blonde asks.

He does.


	4. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> >: )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... for anyone following my whumptober: i suddenly got a lot busier with school and wanted to finish this, but i have fall break rn and a random week off before my testweek in another few weeks so i'll be trying to catch up then!
> 
> in the meantime: enjoy this >: ) there's a brief mention of non-consensual drug use that'll probably be more expanded on in the next chapter!

Steph still keeps some distance, at first. Unlike what he expected, she doesn't start joining Tim when he drops by, nor does she come on her own. Instead, she joins him on patrol sometimes, not more than once a week.

Spoiler doesn't truly have her own territory like the rest of them do. She patrols mostly where she wants, helps out wherever she's asked. She's never gone into Crime Alley when Jason was there until now, but it's unsurprising how well she gets along with the people there. He introduces her to sex workers and his informants, to the street kids so they know they can trust her. He shows her his connections, his projects to help the people, his most trusted employees, the best places to eat. She shows him great spots to watch the view, teaches him the rules of rooftop tag (dick and barbara never did), plays games with the kids. They spar and Jason teaches her new moves.

After two months of this, Jason finally invites her over to one of his safehouses. It's one that's not as secretive. He rarely uses it and Tim knows where it is, too. Jason warms up some leftovers as Steph changes into some of his in the bedroom, then leaves to do the same while Steph is already shoveling food down her throat. Tim joins them halfway through the first episode of Sense8. He grumbles about having missed Jason's cooking when he sees the plates. Jason tells him to shut the fuck up. He's trying to watch, god damnit.

Steph claims the couch to sleep on and Jason doesn't have an air mattress, so Tim has to make do with a pillow, a blanket and either the rug, floor, or the chair. Jason heads off to bed and spends most of the night/early morning laying awake in bed. Good things don't happen to people like him, and the feeling of dread keeps getting harder to ignore. Inevitably, something will happen.

Inevitably, something will go wrong.

* * *

He does fall asleep, eventually. Not for long, though, and when he wakes up it's to three hushed voices coming from the living room. He slips a hoodie over the t-shirt he wear to bed and soundlessly sneaks towards his door, opening it as quietly as possible. Quiet enough that the three don't hear.

"Just answer the question, Dick," Steph hisses quietly. Fuck.

"Fine," Dick sighs. "Babs has seen your tracker hanging around Crime Alley a lot lately. When you're here you're barely on the comms, so she got worried when you came here, considering the building doesn't have any safehouses."

"I can handle myself just fine," the third Batgirl replies.

"Well, I'm sorry if we're a little worried about you hanging around Crime Alley! That's still Jason's territory."

"He's our _soulmate,_ Dick," Tim cuts in waspishly.

"He's no soulmate of mine."

Jason snorts as he walks into the living room. "That mark on your arm says something different."

Dick whirls around to face him, moves so he's standing in front of the younger two. He's still in his Nightwing gear despite the fact that the sun is up. Or in his Nightwing gear again, probably. "What are you doing here?" he asks, vicious. Tim pinches the bridge of his nose behind him, and Steph looks irritated, arms crossed.

Jason raises an eyebrow lazily. "Well, this _is_ my safehouse," he says casually. He's not trying to provoke Dick, not really, but he won't risk him seeing a hint of weakness. It's not safe, to let his guard down around Dick. He needs to keep his walls firmly in place. A single, tiny, miniscule hint and Dick Grayson will run with it, if he deems it necessary. And he will, because Jason is a risk to his siblings, his family, his soulmates. "Did you want something, or…?" he continues, purposefully bored and dismissive.

Dick's face twists in an ugly scowl. He turns to Tim and Steph. "We're not done talking," he tells them. He turns back around, points at Jason, his expression twists into something poisonous. "I don't know what game you're playing, but I won't allow you to hurt them. _Any_ of them."

"Yes, of course, because _you_ have obviously never hurt them," Jason throws back. Dick flexes his fingers, curls them into fists like he wants to punch him, but he restrains himself. He leaves, instead.

"There goes a perfectly good safehouse," Jason mutters to himself. "Either of you want breakfast? I should have enough shit to make pancakes or waffles or something."

Tim rubs a hand over his face. Steph is still glaring at the window Dick left through. "Waffles," the latter says, because she has an addiction. So Jason makes them waffles and forces Tim to drink properly because despite being able to take care of himself he does drink far too much coffee sometimes and they don't talk about the elephant in the room.

Jason stubbornly ignores Robin, and the repeated s _orry_ on his skin. He hadn't acknowledged him, Sister or Ballerina last night, either.

* * *

A few weeks go by where nothing much happens. Jason abandons the safehouse and he doesn't see or hear much from Tim and Steph. Whether they're being cautious about being caught or the others convinced them of how dangerous and unstable he is, he doesn't know. Sunny always shows up when he thinks about that a little too much.

He hasn't talked to Tim and Steph in over a week when he runs into Spoiler, taking down a few of Black Mask's guys. He's too late to prevent one of them from kicking her in the back, so he settles for taking him down painfully. The rest of the night they patrol together and afterwards they head to one of Tim's safehouses just outside of Crime Alley.

“Fuuuck,” Steph groans. “My back hurts like a motherfucker. Jesus, asshole can kick.”

“You want some ice for that?” Jason asks her.

“Yeah, thanks. Mind if I take my shirt off?”

“Do whatever you want,” the older answers. “I don’t mind.”

He heads into the kitchen to grab that icepack and turn the electric kettle on. Steph already has her armor and the tanktop she wears underneath off, leaving her in a sports bra and her costume’s pants. Jason catches a flash of scars as he throws her the icepack and freezes.

He’s seen some of her scars, of course. She’s got a couple on her hands, arms and legs and she had a tendency to sit around his safe houses in only the clothes she wears underneath her armor, usually a tanktop and exercise shorts. But he’d never seen the ones on her stomach, sides or back.

There’s some round ones close together that don’t quite match bullet wounds. Ugly, puckered ones. Slashes. Burn marks.

He clenches his fists. Grits his teeth.

“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance,” he spits. Borage clings to his back. Friend is pressed to his left side. Sunny is standing close to his right, not quite touching but comforting. Ballerina is close, too, standing between Steph and him, watching him. Stabby is next to her. Sister and Robin are off to the side somewhere. They don’t offer him anything. Jason doesn’t really want them here, doesn’t want more of their stand-offish attitudes or their disappointment every time he does something they don’t like. He’s tired of their constant judging.

“Jason...,” Steph says quietly. She doesn’t finish the sentence, just presses the cold pack to her back and doesn’t quite meet his gaze. She purses her lips and takes a few moments before she speaks up again. “It was a while ago. I’m getting over it.”

Jason swallows thickly.

“Do you want him dead?”

He needs to ask her. Maybe some small, selfish part of him wants to know if he’s the only one, if he’s the outlier in the family, if he should stop wanting the Joker dead as much as he does. Mostly he asks because he understands living in a world where your murdered is still alive. Understands living with that constant edge of fear that that world brings.

“I- he- it’s... it’s been years, Jason,” she replies quietly. Jason steps into her space, puts a hand on her bicep. Ballerina and Stabby move to accommodate. Borage keeps clinging to him. Friend, Sister and Robin don’t change, either, but Sunny curls a fist into his shirt. He can feel it even if his shirt doesn’t technically twist in any way.

“Stephanie,” he murmurs. “Do you want me to kill him? Do you need him dead?”

She doesn’t look at him, still. Her gaze is stubbornly fixated at a sit on the ground. They’re quiet for a while, likely several minutes, but Jason doesn’t move- won’t, until he has an answer even if that answer is no.

Finally, she looks up at him and nods, jaw clenched and expression serious. Jason’s expression doesn’t shift from the soft, careful one it’d changed into when he first asked the question.

“Okay,” he says quietly. “Give me two weeks. I’ll deliver you his head, if you want. It can be as slow or fast as you want, just let me know what you need.”

Steph laughs, quiet and a little hesitant, maybe. “I just need him dead,” she says. “Do it however you want.”

What he wants is to make him suffer. What he wants is to inflict the same pain on him as he’d done to her and then more and infinitely more. What he wants is to torture him until he tells him every single detail of what he did to her and then do it to him in tenfold, and then some more. He wants to gut him and bleed him dry. He ways to skin him alive like some pig. What he wants is to leave him hanging in some warehouse or whatever, somewhere we’re no one will find him, leave him to starve and die of dehydration. Nothing will be enough to make him pay for what he did to Steph.

He won’t. Some of that, most of that, is the Pit talking. He’s gotten good at identifying it. He’ll do it clean and quick, a bullet through the head and done. Rid the world of him instantly. Stephanie will probably appreciate that more than something drawn out, anyway.

So he just nods. He’ll start planning tomorrow. With Sionis dead, Gotham and mainly Crime Alley will turn into a war zone. If he plans this right, he can take over Black Mask’s entire business before a gang war starts. If he plans this right, communicates it properly with his people, he won’t even have to be around to take care of it. A necessary precaution, in the likely case Bruce will throw him in Arkham or Blackgate for it.

(please let it be blackgate)

* * *

He starts planning the next morning. He talks to his second in command, his lieutenants, his allies. Talks to the other mob bosses in the area. He refuses to let this turn into a gang war, so they compromise. Until they come to a peaceful agreement, the territory will remain neutral. The only rules are no fighting, and no dealing to kids. The others agree, and agree to negotiate with his second, if only because they don't want a bloodbath on their hands either, and because Jason doesn't break promises. And he promised a lot of pain to the person to break the agreement.

He refamiliarizes himself with Sionis' routine. Idiot barely changed it. Bribes some guards, checks in with his insiders. A week and a half, and everything is ready. During all of this, there is a soulmate at his side at any time. Never Borage, never Steph. Tim, sometimes. Stabby helps planning the actual killing part but the others mostly just… watch.

It's a Friday night when Jason sneaks into Roman's place. Any guard he passes is incapacitated or was bribed in advance. It's mockingly easy to get to his office door. The guard stationed there, someone who's been on Jason's payroll for months now, gives Jason a short nod and knocks on the door. "Boss, your diner!" he calls. Mundane, easy. Nothing to get your guard up about. Perfect.

No reply comes, but Jason doubts that's abnormal. The guard nods once more and steps aside. Jason readies his gun and walks in.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here, Hood?" Roman snarls. Jason doesn't even bother replying with something witty, doesn't care about toying with the man like he usually would. He imagines whatever the man was gonna say next had something to do with the announcement of dinner. Some sexual joke about him in a nurse outfit, probably, because he's creepy. An added benefit of killing the man, maybe he'll finally stop being fucking inappropriate.

He shoots the man straight in the head, takes a quick picture, and walks back out.

"Remind Edwin to give you a bonus," he grunts at his guy as he walks by. "And a hundred bucks for every threat and every time he made you uncomfortable."

The man gapes for a second. If he ends up replying, Jason doesn't hear him.

He ignores the fact that all his soulmates except Steph surround him, starting before he got there and continuing until well after he gets home.

* * *

The first thing he does upon getting home is sending Stephanie the picture. A little gruesome, maybe, but it'll probably feel more real than a text saying he did it.

_Holy shit_

_You actually did it_

_Fuck thank you so much I don’t think I realized how much I needed that_

_Holy fuck shit im crying at the clocktower rn fuck_

Jason smiles just a little and changes out of his uniform. Once he's changes into a sweater and pajama pants, he checks his phone again.

_FUCK_

_JAY IM SO SORRY_

_CASS AND BABS FOUND OUT BABS SEND THE CALVERY AFTER YOU IM SO SORRY_

_;-;_

_That’s okay, I knew this would probably happen_

_AND YOU STILL DID IT???_

_I feel really bad now :((( this is my fault :((_

_Don’t worry about it too much_

_Lets be real it was gonna happen one way or another at some point and I'm happy it's because I made you feel safe_

_Oh my god I can't believe you're such a softy_

_Im gonna give you so many hugs holy shit_

_Idk if theyre throwing you in blackgate or what but soul-me is give you so many hugs too_

_Tim and I are breaking you out as soon as we can_

_Thanks Steph_

_Take care of crime alley, yeah?_

_Of course, itd be my honor good sir_

Jason sighs as he throws his phone on the couch and goes to change into jeans. He refuses to be carted off to jail wearing Wonder Woman sleeping pants _._

(please let it be blackgate)

* * *

(it's not blackgate)

  
(it's arkham, stuffed full with drugs and only a few doors down from the clown's usual cell)

* * *

He barely has the time to text Roy and Kori they won't be able to reach him for a while before Nightwing breaks his window to get inside. Jason scowls at him.

" _Really?_ Breaking the window? Someone's gonna have to clean that up, you know."

Dick scowls right back. "Quit playing games, Hood. Why did you kill Black Mask?"

"'Cause he deserved it."

Soul-Steph is clinging to him, hugging him like she promised.

"We don't kill!"  
  
"You don't kill. I've proven I'm more than ready to."

"Was it worth the innocent lives that will be lost during the resulting gang war?" Dick spits. "Maybe if you weren't so impulsive and reckless you'd realize that what you did will inevitably cause one!"

"No, it won't," Jason snaps back. Impulsive. He almost scoffs. Dick knows nothing. "Are we done pretending you're not just waiting for Bruce to come and take me down? What, can't do it yourself?"

Bruce, who's an asshole that loves his theatric, chooses that moment to jump through the broken window and take Jason down. The younger doesn't even bother fighting. It's not worth it.

Steph is still pressed close to him, a small bit of comfort, a reminder that it was definitely worth it.

"You've gone too far this time, Hood," Bruce growls. "Do you have any idea how many lives will be lost because of this?"

Jason laughs. "Wanna make a bet, old man? If a war breaks out, I'll stay nice and cozy in whatever cell you put me in. If it doesn't, you have to let me out."

Bruce doesn't bother replying, undoubtedly doesn't believe it worth the effort. It's no time at all before he's locked in a cell in a hideous orange jumpsuit, sedated. Steph clings to him the entire time.

He's so tired.


	5. Cassandra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter it's Cass! But first, Jason has to get out of Arkham. Also, Roy and Koir make another appearance!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, took me longer than I would've liked. I had a bunch of tests last week and the week before and a couple of due dates. And also my grandpa had to go to the hospital because of heart issues Tuesday, so I've had a fun week all around. Cass is also really hard to write, so I hope I did her justice!  
> The next 3-4 months are gonna be hella busy for me, even outside of the holidays, but I hope I can update next month anyway.

Arkham is a miserable existence.

It's never quiet. Yelling, screaming, laughing. Riddler shouting riddles down the hall, Scarecrow answering, Harley flirting with Poison Ivy, Freeze either trying to hold conversations or crying for his wife. Joker, taunting and laughing and giggling. A passing guard, telling all of them to shut the fuck up. In the middle of this, Jason, sluggish, terrified. Panic attacks aren't uncommon, nightmares are constant. His food has ended up in the toilet from the wrong exit a little too often, after another taunt from the clown. He has to pass his murderer's cell to get to therapy. Every time, he has to hide his shaking hands, has to bite his tongue in an attempt to ignore him. Every time, Joker is pressed as far through the bars of the door's tiny window as he can. Jason doesn't say a word to his therapist, ever, because he can't know if she's working for the Joker or not. Even if she isn't, anything he tells her might end up in the maniac's hands anyway. At night, he curls up on his cot with either Steph or Tim or both curled up next to him, holding him tight. Stabby has taken to sitting by his feet, Ballerina perches by his head, Sunny sits on the floor and puts a hand over his. Robin and Sister never touch him. Jason wants them to leave. Jason wants them to hug him. Jason doesn't know what he wants, just that they're confusing.

"You know, little birdy, you turned out better than I planned!" Joker shouts extatically across the hall one night. "Turning up alive, that was disappointing! But then you attacked the Bats at every turn! Fantastic, kid!"

"Shut the fuck _up,_ Joker, some people want to sleep!" Ivy shouts from his other side.

Jason curls further into himself and trembles. He doesn't want to do this anymore. He doesn't want to be here. He wants to be on the beach on Kori's island with her and Roy. He wants to curl up on his couch with Steph and Tim and watch some stupid cartoon. He wants to be thirteen and naïve. He'll take dying over this. He'll take digging his way out of his grave fifty times, a hundred times over this.

* * *

It's a rainy night when Roy appears in front of his cell door. He looks tired, is smiling softly.

"Hey, buddy," he says, and Jason slumps in relief at that familiar voice, that familiar accent.

"Roy," he breathes.

"Yeah, we're getting you out of here," the archer says. "Red Robin is taking care of the security and Spoiler and Starfire are outside, waiting to get us off this island. Signal is distracting Batman and Black Bat is getting the keys as we speak."

Steph is still hugging him. She's barely stopped since he got here, probably about a month ago, he thinks. Jason can't really process the information Roy just gave him. Steph had promised she and Tim would get him out, it's unsurprising Roy and Kori are helping. He just doesn't understand where Cass and Duke came from.

Cass appears next to Roy, handing him the keys. It takes a couple tries before he finds the right one, but then the door opens and Jason is getting hugged tightly to Roy's chest as Steph fades away, and Jason has to remind himself that that's okay, he'll see her in a bit. He's more aware than usual. They'd skipped his most recent dose of drugs, and Jason now suspects that's because of Tim's involvement. He'd just been nervous about it, before.

"Alright, Jaybird, let's go," Roy murmurs.

They go. They sneak through the hallway as fast as they can without making a sound, which luckily is fast, with Cass in the front and Roy, who doesn't take his hand off of Jason's shoulder once, last. Cass shares a look with Roy at some point just before they duck into a different hallway and wait as guards pass the hallway they'd been walking through before, which means they must be on the comms with, presumably, Tim. Jason just hopes Oracle doesn’t find out. They'll be in deep shit if she does and Jason doesn't want the rest of them getting in trouble.

The rest of the way goes smoothly, and they're outside before he knows it. It's cold and his jumpsuit is getting soaked, but he doesn’t mind too much. Roy takes the lead now, hurrying towards where Jason knows a blind spot for both the guards and cameras is. It's been pointed out multiple times before, but Arkham claims it's not a problem because no one can enter or leave there. Stupid, really, because getaway boats or whatever c _an_ be left there, so it's no surprise to see Kori, Steph and Tim there, waiting by two escape pods from Kori's ship. Kori floats over and hugs him tightly, before ushering them into the escape pods. They're small, only suited for four people each. Roy, Cass and Tim take one, Kori, Steph and Jason the other.

Stephanie hugs him tight the moment he steps into the pod, and Jason hugs her back. "I'm okay," he promises.

"I'm so sorry it took so long," Steph mumbles back. "Tim and I could've probably done it on our own but that'd make it a lot more risky and keeping you in Gotham would be dangerous, so we had to contact Roy and Koriand'r but they were _hell_ to reach."

Kori looks just a little satisfied with that, making Jason smile.

"And then Cass and Duke found out so we had to convince them to stay quiet."

"You got me out," Jason tells her, "that's all that matters. You got me out."

( _you didn’t forget about me,_ he wants to say, _you didn’t decide leaving me there was better, you didn't leave me behind._

he can't.)

She lets him go, eventually. The rest of the journey is filled with idle chatter, when they talk. Kori talks the most, only about unimportant things, and Jason's chest aches with how much he loves her. What's between them isn't romantic, but 'friends' doesn't sound quite right, either.

They beat Tim, Cass and Roy to the Outlaw's island, but only by a few minutes. Jason gets changed, and in the five minutes that takes, Roy has appeared to drag him into the kitchen to eat. Jason grumbles a little about wanting to sleep.

"Absolutely not," Roy tells him stubbornly. "I don't believe for a second you’ve eaten and held down a single, proper fucking meal in Arkham. You're eating, then you're showering, then you can sleep."  


"As long as Kori isn't cooking," the younger man snorts.

"We were talking about proper meals, Jaybird."

"I would like to remind you that I was not the one that not only managed to burn toast, but also set the toaster on fire," Kori counters as they enter the kitchen.

"That doesn't count! I was tinkering with it!"

Steph snorts at them and puts a plate of her famous waffles down on the table in front of the empty seat next to Cassandra, who has her mask and her gloves off but is still wearing the rest of her costume, same as Tim and Steph. Jason ignores the frankly intimidating girl as he sits down to eat. She stares at her, eyes narrowed. Jason keeps ignoring her as Tim catches him up on what's been goin on in Gotham and Crime Alley in particular. Tim has just finished talking and Jason has gotten about halfway through his waffles, eating slow in a way he knows he should but really doesn't want to, when Cassandra finally speaks up.

"Steph said… you're good when she asked help," she tells him, steely determination in her eyes. "That we did not see. Did not understand. That we would… get it, when we bonded."

She takes a batarang from her utility belt and cuts her palm on it with no hesitation. Jason takes the batarang from her when she offers it and immediately hears Roy curse up a storm.

"Oh for fuck- you Bats and your destructive, reckless _bullshit,"_ he complains as he takes the offending object from Jason and hands it back to Cass. "No, absolutely fucking not. Jason's going to finish eating, then shower and sleep for 12 hours straight if I have anything to say about it, you can do this shit _tomorrow._ Bonding takes more energy out of you than he should be spending right now."

* * *

He doesn't sleep for 12 hours, of course, let alone straight, but he sleeps better than he has in months. He always sleeps better with Kori and Roy. He still gets nightmares, they all do, but they make him feel safe and it's easier to calm down with them around.

He eats breakfast, mostly because Roy might finally give up and strangle him if he doesn't and Kori might just not be able to stop him if she even tries, and then takes Cass out to the beach. They both take a seat in the warm sand in the burning sun. They've both, as it turns out, taken a knife, Jason his Kris and Cass one of his spares from either the training room or the armory. They don't waste time, not words. They cut their own palms and clasp their hands together.

* * *

Jason opened his eyes to an almost bare room. It only held a bed and a tiny dresser, and on the bed a tiny, black haired girl that must've been Cassandra. She cradles an arm close to her chest. From what Jason can see, it doesn't look broken, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

He sits down next to her on the bed, which makes her startle. She gets on her feet and creeps backwards when she sees no one. Jason approaches carefully, runs a thumb over the line of soulmarks down her arm, but it doesn't make her relax. Unsurprising, really. She hadn't been taught to speak, of course she wouldn’t know about soulmates. At least Cain obviously knew about them, and that trying to cut the marks away would've been useless- they just would have grown back over the scar tissue, again and again.

The door bangs open to reveal David Cain. Jason would love to punch him, but trying would be useless and the scene is already fading.

* * *

The next memory is of her killing a man. She seems older, but only barely. He's heard this be mentioned, once or twice. She must be eight, now.

She rips the man's throat out and watches, horrified, as he dies. Everyone else is here, too. They're all tugging her away from the man, towards the door. Jason runs a comforting hand through her hair as she stays frozen, then helps her escape along with the others.

* * *

Jason in present a lot, the next nine years. Helps her survive on the streets, mostly. He's not there for comfort like he was for Tim and Steph. It's a weird paradox. He learned from her, she learned from him. Had she not taught him, he wouldn't have been able to teach her and the other way around.

He's learnt, over the years, how to spot the creepy men and points them out whenever he catches them so Cassandra can stay away from them. She's a girl, she's even more vulnerable on the streets than he was. Whenever she doesn’t listen, though, or when he doesn't catch them, she handles herself fine. She doesn't kill them, has sworn herself to never do it again, but she keeps herself safe. Jason understands, a little, why she hates killing so much. He hopes she'll understand, a little, how much he hates it and why he does it anyway.

She goes from Asia to Europe, then finally to America. Then, finally, at seventeen, she gets to Gotham and almost immediately ends up in the middle of No Man's Land. He isn’t around much for it. He isn't around for most of Gotham, honestly. He doesn't need to be, not when she has most of her soulmates close by, physically.

And then Jason watches her crawl out of a Lazarus Pit and defeat Lady Shiva. She doesn't kill her, of course. But she does defeat her, and that's… really fucking intimidating, to be honest.

* * *

The last memory he sees is of Steph and Cassandra talking.

"Planning something," Cass accuses, arms crossed and disapproving. Duke looks between the two of them and wisely decides to flee.

"Stay out of it, Cass," Steph tells her.

"He's… dangerous," Cass warns. "Needs help."

"He's not going to get that help in Arkham!" Steph tells her angrily. "The only thing he's going to get is retraumatized!"

"Arkham is… for help," Cass tells her, stubbornly.

"Yeah, and _maybe_ it does help some people! But if you think being in such close proximity to people he's helped lock up, in such close proximity to the man that _murdered him,_ you're delusional."

Cass frowned. "Danger to… civilians. To himself. To us," she reminds her friend. "He… killed Black Mask. Sure way to start gang war."

"None of you get it!" Steph yells. "He's not a danger to us! He's certainly not one to civilians! He killed Black Mask for _me,_ because I admitted I would feel safer with him gone! He planned everything so there _wouldn't_ be a gang war! One would have started by now if he hadn't! It's what he always does, plan carefully so as little as possible people get hurt! None of you understand him! He's so, so good, and none of you see it! If you bonded, you'd see!"

Cass is quiet for a while, arms crossed and stern frown on her face. Her eyes flicker towards where Jason is standing, then back to Stephanie. She nods. "I help," she decides. "Then I will see if you are right."

* * *

He blinks, and he's back on the island, Cass in front of him. She nods.

"Understand… better now," she says.

"I didn't know you've also been in the Pit," he tells her.

"I was taught… control. To defeat it. You were taught to… let it rule," she murmurs. "You have control now, but it's still there. Talia… used it, so she could use you."

"Yeah, well," Jason grunts, shrugging. "Still owe her m' brain. 'nd my life, probably."

"Are you two done?" Tim calls from the ship. "Steph found some kind of alien drama show and we're gonna watch it, come on!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you've probably noticed, Cass didn't have a nickname for Jason. Because she wasn't really able to speak before she got to Gotham, it didn't make sense to me for her to give her soulmates nicknames- I didn't mention it, but she didn't really even know what soulmates were until Gotham. She, like the others, can tell her soulmates apart, but she didn't have the need for nicknames, let alone a way for her to think of nicknames


	6. Damian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demon Brat time 
> 
> (pretty sure not even half the chapter is focused on him, whoops)
> 
> (babs and dick make an appearance, too :)) )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 months later...
> 
> Yeah, I've had a fun couple of months. December is always a mess of multiple holidays and birthdays for us (not that you could celebrate much). My grandpa was about to go home before being rushed into emergency surgery on december fifth, which is a holiday where I live and we were celebrating it (within my country's rules and guidelines at the time). I heard about that while riding a goddamn train, then had to babysit my little cousins because my uncle went with my grandma to the hospital and my aunt was at work. I'm just thankful he's recovering well now. After that whole drama I got really busy catching up with school, then Christmas happened, I spend New Years in quarantine waiting for my COVID test results which were positive, more catching up with school, blah blah. Fun all around. 
> 
> Damian has always been hard to write for me, but I hope you enjoy anyway! I'm posting this immediately after finishing it because it's late here and I don't want to wait much longer, so this hasn't been read through to check spelling. I'm not entirely happy with it, it's mostly a collection of short scenes, but it's whatever. Sorry again for the delay

Tim, Cass and Steph head back to Gotham a week later to handle the aftermath of his escape. In that time, Cass and Jason have come to a mutual understanding of sorts.

Jason stays on the island with Roy and Kori for two more months, building his strength back up. It's nice. He's missed them. They still hang out, of course, but they're all busy and it's never quite the same as it was when they were still a team. Not bad, necessarily, just different. It's nice to have that back, if only for a bit.

He stays in contact with the other three, of course. By being thrown into a group chat without warning and not being allowed to leave. It's… fun. A little overwhelming, especially once Duke gets added, but fun.

He goes back to Gotham after those two months, and takes his most beautiful dagger with him. It's mostly decorative, far too impractical to use in combat, but it's still sharp. It's League tradition to use one like this to bond with your soulmate, a sign of how precious they are, and it's only a matter of time before Damian will approach him. Jason's prepared.

* * *

"Okay, but like, why is everyone always saying she sucks?" Duke asks. "I think she's great."

"I don't know, apparently she's too aggressive and doesn't have any character development or something," Tim grumbles, annoyed.

"Are they watching the show?" Duke asks, bewildered. "Did we watch the same show? I don't get it."

"It's the misogyny, for me," Steph says. Cass laughs. Jason smiles.

Steph hadn't hesitated to drag him into hanging out with the four of them. Duke had been a little hesitant at first, but that turned out to be mostly because he didn't really know Jason. When Jason'd thanked him for the help, he'd easily waved him off. They haven't really acknowledged the soulmate thing yet, but that's alright. Jason will wait for Duke to come to him.

He feels surprisingly normal, hanging out with the four of them.

(he's been determinedly ignoring robin and sister. all they do, still, is watch from a distance and it hurts to acknowledge that)

* * *

He's been expecting Damian, of course. The kid respects Cass and, no matter how he acts and what he says, even Steph to a certain extend. He's likely curious about Jason, too, if he knows he trained with Talia, which is likely. While he tends to obey Bruce and Dick for the most part, he's just as stubborn as his father when he wants to be.

He just hadn't been expecting him so soon.

He's cleaning up. Steph, Duke, Tim and Cass only left a few minutes ago. It's possible the kid had been waiting for them to leave. Quite likely, even.

"Todd." The usual high-and-mighty tone, chin tilted up just a little, eyes narrowed as he stares at Jason. He looks more like his mother than his father, like this.

"Batbrat," Jason greets.

"You know why I am here."

"I do."

Damian is still on the opposite side of the room. He fishes a simple knife out of his belt.

"Now that's just rude," Jason tells him.

"-Tt-, someone would notice if they were to check my bedroom and my ceremonial dagger was gone," the kid replied. "They are aware of the tradition, of course. I assumed you'd prefer a simple knife over Grayson and Father showing up."

Jason hums. He's right, of course. The older of the two walks towards his bookcase to grab his own dagger and then crosses the distance towards his youngest brother. They look at each other for a second. Jason holds out his hand. Damian accepts the offer with a nod and cuts the palm, then holds out his own hand for Jason to do the same. They clamp their hands together, still looking the other in the eyes, and then close them at the simultaneously.

* * *

Jason opens his eyes to see Ra's private chambers in Nanda Parbat. The man himself is sitting at his desk, looking incredibly displeased. Talia is standing next to Damian in front of the desk.

"The marks match those of the Detective's son."

"Soulmates are inevitable," Talia replies. "There's nothing to be done."

"Maybe so, but we could use it."

Jason clamps his hand over Damian's shoulder and grits his teeth.

* * *

Damian starts training far too young. Jason already knows this, of course, but it still makes him mad. The kid gets punished anytime he makes a mistake, even if it's the first time he tries a move. Jason takes to gently correcting stances. He stands at Damian's back, along with Cass, to warn him for potential danger. He stands vigil on nights the kid can't sleep, afraid of an ambush or another test, as Dick or Steph or whoever curls up around him on the bed.

Damian catches glimpses of pre-Pit Jason sometimes. It's a little disorientating, considering he barely remembers that time.

Training becomes heavier the older Damian gets. He's expected to continue no matter the injurie. It pisses Jason off to no end. He gets fed poisons to build up a tolerance. Talia had done it to Jason, too, but he'd been older, consented to it, and it hadn't been nearly as extensive as Damian's.

He's so incredibly relieved when Talia finally sends Damian to Bruce, only to get pissed off yet again by how Bruce treats the kid at the start. He's distant, cold, not particularly sympathetic to Damian's upbringing. It confuses Jason. He had to constantly hear about how Cass and Damian learned to overcome their upbringing, how Damian doesn't kill anymore either.

Jason isn't around much for the period that they thought Bruce was dead. It's unsurprising. Dick had been very concerned with Damian during that period. Jason understands, to an extend, even if the man made a lot of mistakes with the rest of them, Tim specifically.

Damian gets stabbed by the Heretic, _his own clone made by Talia,_ and Jason holds him close. He can't do anything but hug the kid close along with the others.

He comes back to life, and no matter how much what happened before that between Bruce and Jason still hurts, the kid wasn't to blame. He doesn't adjust nearly as well as he pretends to, so Jason helps him best he can. He hopes it makes it a little easier.

* * *

He comes back to himself sooner than he thought he would. He's used to longer bonds. Then again, Damian is barely a teenager. Despite having been through a lot, he's still very young.

The kid himself is looking up at him with hurt-anger-confusion basically pouring out of him. His fists are clenched at his sides. "He took you to Ethiopia."

"It wasn't your fault," Jason tells him.

"He took you to Ethiopia. For me. To get answers, to bring _me_ back to life. _As if you wouldn't have given him whatever answers you could had he just asked!"_

"Damian," Jason says sternly, grabbing the kid's shoulder, "you were dead. You didn't ask him to do that. You definitely didn't hold a gun to anyone's head and forced him to. It. Wasn't. your. Fault."

Damian glares at the floor and stays quiet. Jason sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Sit down. I have that tea Talia always drank. You can leave after you had a cup."

Damian sits down. They drink the tea in silence. Damian leaves, afterwards.

* * *

Barbara calls him in the morning. She wakes Jason up by doing so, and likely knows this and did it on purpose.

"Why was Damian with you last night?" she asks. Her tone isn't as cold and clinical as it would've been a couple months ago, or even weeks ago. Still, something about it hurts.

"Good morning to you, too," he grumbles sleepily. He refuses to get out of bed. "You could've asked him."

"I am under no illusion I'd get a useful answer out of him."

"And you think you'll get one from me?"

"More of one, at least."

"Jesus, you know why he was here. Despite what you and Dick seem to think, or like to pretend, I am still one of your soulmates. We bonded, we drank tea, he went home."

"You expect me to believe that?"

His insides freeze. His heart aches. His eyes sting. "Believe whatever you want," he grounds out. "Goodbye, Barbara."

He hands up the phone, turns it off, and throws it across the room. There's a decent chance the screen cracked but he doesn't care. He turns around in his bed and buries himself back under the covers, but he doesn't manage to go back to sleep no matter how hard he tries.

He gets out of bed eventually, makes himself some food and buries himself in a case. His phone still lays on his bedroom floor.

As if the day couldn't get any worse, Nightwing shows up for his patrol that night. He should've expected it. He didn't, though.

"What do you want with Robin?" Dick demands.

"I don't want anything with him," Jason snarls back. "He came to me!"

"What, you expect me to believe that?"

"I don't expect you to believe a single fucking I say, because I've learned by now that you _won't._ I know I've fucked up a million _goddamn times,_ alright!? I _fucking_ get it! You don't have to keep reminding me! You have every fucking right to be suspicious and wary of me, and I don't blame you for that!" Jason yells. "What I blame you for is not listening to the others! For thinking, time and time again, the worst, even without evidence! For giving every single fucking person as many goddamn chances as they need except for me!"

Fuck. He's crying. Thank god for his helmet.

"How about you just _leave me alone,"_ he suggests. "Seems like a great fucking solution for the both of us, right?"

He leaves. He goes to the nearest safehouse, angrily throws his helmet through the living room. He yells wordlessly. It tapers off into quiet sobs. Sister and Robin are watching, again.

"Leave me alone!" he yells at them, desperately. "Stop doing that! Just leave me the hell alone if all you're gonna do is stare and judge!"

He breaks down, crying, sobbing. Sinks down to the ground, head on his knees, hands pulling at his hair. Carefully, tentatively, Robin puts a hand on his shoulder. Sister runs a hand through his hair, attempting to dislodge his own hands. He cries harder. Slowly, very slowly, Sister moves to hug him.

Jason doesn't calm down for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damian's soulbond part of the chapter is very short because I feel like Jason would mostly be around a lot while with the League. However, very little is known about his time there as far as I can find so I kept it pretty vague. That, along with Damian's age and the fact that he's usually in pretty close proximity (i.e. the same city at least) with at least one soulmate once he leaves the League means Jason really isn't as necessary at all times. 
> 
> And would you look at that! Jason and Dick almost have a conversation! It's a miracle :)
> 
> Also credits to anyone that can figure out what they're watching at the start, pretty sure it's not that hard but idk ;)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [If you can show me sunlight, I can weather any rain](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28770837) by [I_Write_Midnight_Snacks (Pink_and_Purple_Daisies)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pink_and_Purple_Daisies/pseuds/I_Write_Midnight_Snacks)




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